Manila Staycation Part VI: Kalesa Ride and Kite-flying

From the National Museum, we crossed the street and took a quick jeepney ride to Luneta. It was still hot hot hot at 4PM. After asking at least 5 strangers for leads, we finally found a stall that satisfied our craving for ice cold halo-halo.

Akira, on this very hot afternoon, insisted in ordering his favorite lugaw with egg. We enjoyed our turo-turo merienda under the shade of the beautiful fire trees.

Finally, a few minutes before 5PM, the temperature was more tolerable. Time for the much awaited kalesa ride!

Tip: There are a lot of kalesas around Luneta. Take the ones accredited by Department of Tourism. They are parked near the DOT building, near the fire trees, near the giant Lapu-lapu statue. They do not overcharge because DOT has a prescribed fixed rate which is 50 bucks per passenger. Plus, the kucheros are trained by the department. They will tell you about our history as they drive you to your destination. Say hello to our horse, Antonio and Rizal Park’s very own Arnel Pineda. Sorry, Kuya for forgetting your name.

You can see in Aki’s excitement could not be contained. That is what Toy Story movie marathons do. He sat in front, sandwiched between Kuya Kuchero and his assistant. Thru out the trip, he kept shouting, “RUN LIKE THE WIND, AAN-TONIOOOO!

The DOT kucheros also offer Intramuros tours if you are interested. The fee is 2000, good for 4 pax.

Soon, we arrived at the Quirino Grandstand. We were so ready to fly a kite for the first time.

Our attempt 2 years ago was a major major fail!

Aki gave our kite the most creative name, Birdie Bird. Its nickname is Eagle Da Eagle.

Every bit of the 100 pesos we spent for this kite was worth it. Kite flying is a wonderful way to bond as a family and to appreciate nature. I wish we can do it every day.

At first, flying Birdie Bird was a struggle

But in no time it was so high.

So high I thought the string would snap.

When the sun and skies turned orange, it was our cue to leave.

After so many last-five minutes, we headed back to the hotel.

Goodbye, Quirino Grandstand. That was fun!

The boys walked leisurely while I ran back to the hotel as fast as my tired legs could. I was determined to get pictures of the famous Manila Bay sunset. I could hear Aki in my head shouting “Run Like the Wind, Mummy Horse!” I could see the fiery sun moving fast as I was running. When I got to the pool area of Manila Hotel, I ran further to the deck for a better view.

Unfortunately, my best was not good enough. No sun but still beautiful, right?

As you can imagine, we were very tired when we got to our room. We did not even have to talk about cancelling the plan to go Intramuros that night. After our Aristocrat BBQ dinner (Manila Hotel is not strict when it comes to food deliveries),

Although the cable TV was tempting, we decided to call it a day even before 9PM. We said our prayers. It was long one. Even though our youngest went to heaven so soon, we have so many things that we are very thankful for.